BRATTLEBORO — A judge has rejected a motion to dismiss the case or reduce the charge against a man accused of killing his wife in a Vermont condominium almost two decades ago.

John Grega was convicted of killing his wife, Christine, in 1994, and then released from prison last August when newly tested DNA evidence suggested that someone else was involved in the murder.

But the state filed a new aggravated murder charge against Grega. He pleaded not guilty last month. His lawyer asked a judge to dismiss the charge, or at least reduce it because the state has not been able to identify a weapon.

The Brattleboro Reformer reported the judge ruled that the inability to “state definitively” what object was used doesn’t invalidate the charge.